Friday, April 22, 2016

The
Utah State University Student Association, or USUSA, is celebrating Earth Day
with the students of Utah State starting at 9 a.m. Friday morning. All
throughout the day, events were planned by the USUSA.

Starting
at 9 a.m. booths were set up on the campus’ Quad, and students were informed
about the ways their campus helps sustain the environment they live in.

“I
think Earth Day is unique and super special, because it’s like the celebration
of all the work we’ve done all year,” said Emily Blake, an environmental studies
student at Utah State who works in the universities sustainability office. “The
office does a lot of things throughout the year, and Earth Day is a way people
can celebrate the it.”

Along
with all the events planned for Earth Day students took the initiative on their
social media sites to celebrate Earth Day.

“When
one tugs at a single thing in nature, he finds it attached to the rest of the
world,” said Braxton Moon over Twitter.

Some
students managed to wake up to catch the sunrise in the wind caves up Logan Canyon.

“As
you can see winter is shadowing away in the background only to tell us one
thing. Spring has arrived,” said Sunny Patel on his Instagram.

Along
with tweeting their own original tweets a few students retweeted Neil deGrasse
Tyson as he reflected over Twitter.

“We’re
short, so Mountains seem tall. We’re mortal, so Earth seems eternal. Our spacecraft
are slow, so the Universe seems vast,” Tyson tweeted. “’Save the Earth’ really
means ‘Save the humans’ or ‘Save the Life on Earth’. Earth the planet will
outlast all extinctions.”

Students
were also encouraged by USU Dining Services to use #PartOfTheSolution on their
social media sites as they take part in reducing plastic waste, and use
refillable water bottles.

“Today
we are showing students all the things we do to showcase how we reduce waste on
campus,” said Tiffany Moss, a marketer for USU Dining Services.

From
11 a.m. to 1 p.m. students were asked to take a pledge to reduce plastic waste,
and received a green cup that they can use to refill anywhere on campus.

“I
think it’s really cool how Utah State is showing all of our support over social
media,” Moss said. “I’ve enjoyed seeing all the ways students are keeping the
Earth clean, or just enjoying the Earth on this day.”

More
events follow later in the day, and starting at 1:30 students can participate with
“Yoga on the Quad.” Following Yoga on the Quad, students can join in a service
project at 2:30 at Aggie Blue Bikes and that will last until 5 p.m. tonight.
After the service project Utah State will conclude its Earth Day with a
barbeque and games at First Dam.

“I
think Utah State is moving in a really cool direction,” Blake said. “President Stan
Albrecht has done a really good job, and has done a lot of great stuff for us.
It’s all uphill from here, and it’s important for students to recognize today
and be thankful for what we have on this campus.”

Thursday, April 21, 2016

Friday
marks the 100 year anniversary of Utah State University’s “True Aggie Night,”
and students, alumni and lucky bystanders have been sharing their favorite True
Aggie Night moments on social media in honor of the celebration.

“My
favorite memory of True Aggie Night has to be when I kissed Mr. USU, Kurt
Kowal, on the A,” said Lynette Erickson, a student at Utah State University, on
her Instagram.

True
Aggie Night started in 1916 when several students at Utah State built the “Block
A” for their campus. The Block A changed locations a few times before finding a
final resting spot at the top of Old Main Hill. Despite varying locations,
students would gather in long lines to kiss on the Block A and become “True
Aggies.”

“When
we were in college it was a really exciting tradition to be a part of,” said
Tresha Haymond, who graduated from Utah State in 1990. “I see the pictures
students have now, and we didn’t have that luxury of keeping those memories.”

However
the night can be exciting for some, there are those out there feel like True
Aggie Night is not a positive experience.

Current
Utah State student JC Thomas, along with other students, took to social media
to share their side of the story.

“All
my friends want to go to True Aggie Night, but all I would rather stay in my
bed and eat ice cream,” Thomas tweeted.

“I
would like to say not going to True Aggie Night tomorrow,” said Michael Kay, a
student at Utah State, over Twitter, “why go if I’m just going to stand there
and be cold?”

Not
all the tweets have been negative, but some of the seniors have nostalgia on
their last True Aggie Night as an undergraduate.

“Last
True Aggie Night forever for me. Not sure if I can handle it,” said Jason
Charles, a graduating senior at Utah State University, over Twitter. “Many
great memories on that A.”

As
students began to share their memories over social media some things stood out
to many such as proposals to one another, members of the LBGTQIA becoming True
Aggies in front of their fellow students, and the entertaining and fun
atmosphere.

“Utah
State really does it better than most of the universities here in Utah,” said
Brittnee Peace, a student at the University of Utah. “I know a lot of the
universities have tried to recreate the atmosphere that is created in Logan,
but it just doesn’t feel the same. Almost like the other schools are trying too
hard to be like the Aggies.”

Although
Utah State was the first in the state to start the tradition, other schools
across the state have started their own version of True Aggie Night. For
example, in Orem, Utah Valley University has its “True Wolverine Night” in the
middle of their campus’ patio in front of a “UVU” fountain.

“It’s
alright down here,” said Brandon Montague, a student at Utah Valley and a True
Aggie, “but it’s better in Logan. It’s different down here, because it’s so new
and nobody really goes to it. If you’re not there in the first 10 minutes then
you’d best leave, because all the candidates would be gone.”

Other
schools like Dixie State, Weber State, University of Utah and Snow College have
similar traditions, but Utah State’s True Aggie Night started the trend.

Anyone
can become a True Aggie by receiving a kiss on the Block A under a full moon at
midnight by somebody who already is a True Aggie, or on Homecoming or A-Day by
somebody who is not.

The
100 year anniversary of True Aggie Night begins Friday night and goes through
Saturday morning. Students are encouraged to attend the event, by their student
association, as the school concludes its semester and “A Week.”

Wednesday, April 20, 2016

Miss
Diversity, Francia Solis Gil, was crowned Miss USU Wednesday night on Twitter
and live in the Taggart Student Center’s ballroom. Solis Gil took home the
overall competition, but also collected the most votes over the contests
Instagram page.

“It’s
time for us all to realize that we have so much diversity on this campus,”
Solis Gil said. “I think that the diverse students here at USU really worked
hard to see that they were represented well in the contest.”

Solis
Gil, originally from de los Caballeros, Santiago, of the Dominican Republic, is
studying French and Spanish at Utah State University. Solis Gil is fluent in
French, Spanish, English and Portuguese, and before her time at Utah State she
studied at the Technology University of Santiago.

Solis
Gil had a commanding lead on the social media side of the competition with a
total of 1,134 likes on her picture. Miss Education, Jessie Howard, finished
second place in likes on Instagram with 882 on her picture. Since Solis Gil
took home the overall crown, Howard was given the “People’s Choice” award for
having the most likes on her picture.

“It’s
really great to have Francia as Miss USU,” said Luis Armenta, Utah State
University Student Association’s diversity vice president. “I think a lot of
the diverse students on this campus really appreciated seeing her recognized tonight,
and the student body as a whole seemed to be really excited when she was
crowned Miss USU.”

Solis
Gil had a large fan base in the audience, but any doubters were quickly swayed
during her talent section of the competition.

Solis
Gil performed a series of different dance routines from different cultures
across the world, and also had people hold up their countries flag while they
sat in the audience.

“I
was honored to be a part of it all,” said Michael Scott Peters, who performed
in Solis Gil’s dance routine. “When she asked me to join in I was somewhat
confused, because I’m just a white guy from West Jordan, Utah, but she made it
clear that everyone is diverse in their own way. I had a lot fun, but the night
was really all about Francia.”

Solis
Gil ended her dance routine to a standing ovation from the crowd as she dropped
to a complete right-leg split, and Twitter instantly blew up.

“Francia
just rocked USU when she dropped into the splits at the end of her talent,”
said Tanner Field, a student at Utah State, over Twitter.

“I
see you Miss Diversity. I see you,” said Chris Glaittli, the Utah State
University Student Associations assistant marketing director, over Twitter.

Along
with Solis Gil’s talent, she dedicated her night to honor all the diverse
cultures on the Utah State campus, and with her formal attire and question she
started to get emotional with her answer.

“We
have so many amazing cultures on this campus, and most times we don’t take time
actually sit back and realize this opportunity,” Solis Gil said. “I love USU,
and I’m so thankful for all of the students that came out to support all of us
in this pageant. It truly was remarkable.”

As
the night ended and votes were tallied, and Miss CHaSS, Felicia Gallegos, was
named second runner-up and first runner-up was given to Miss CAAS, Heather
Lieber. Finally, Solis Gil was announced as Miss USU, and the ballroom erupted into
cheers.

“I
want to thank all of the students at Utah State, my friends and my family for
helping this week, and supporting me through all these years. Go Aggies,” Solis
Gil said.

Tuesday, April 19, 2016

Sunday
night students at Utah State University reacted to a tweet on Twitter about a recent
voyeurism arrest on their campus.

“We
have to build a wall around the Pike house if we want to end sexual assault.
Make USU safe again,” said Ben Fordham, a student at Utah State University,
over Twitter.

Fordham's
tweet was quickly favorited and retweeted by many students at Utah State, and
was responded to quickly.

"But
in all seriousness USU should look into this for the general well-being of our
women," said Andrew Redfern, a student at Utah State University, over
Twitter.

"I'll
grab a shovel," said Yusuf Mumin, a student at Utah State University, over
Twitter.

A
lot of people saw the negative side of his tweet as well, and eventually
Fordham deleted the tweet all together.

"Not
cool, you can't blame mistakes from individuals on a whole house," said
Breanna Bennett, a member of the Alpha Chi Omega sorority.

This
last weekend a member of Pi Kappa Alpha was arrested with voyeurism charges,
and Fordham’s tweet sparked controversy around the Logan campus, and caused
many students to share their opinion on the matter.

“The
actions of one person does not reflect an organization as a whole,” said Kenzy
Nageli, a member of the Alpha Chi Omega sorority. “It’s about getting the wrong
people out of the organizations, because Greek life can do some amazing things
on this campus.”

During
the fall semester the men of Pi Kappa Alpha reported the highest number of
service hours on campus with 797 hours. Pi Kappa Alpha had significantly more
hours than the runner-up HackUSU who reported 555 hours in the fall semester.

“We’ve
been extremely proud the way the men of Pike have donated their time to
service, because they’ve done some incredible work in the last few months,”
said Ricky Benitez, the Interfraternity Council public relations. “Their food
drive last semester and toy drive this semester shows how much of a positive
impact they’ve made on this campus and community.”

Just
this last week Jonny Whipple, a member of Pi Kappa Alpha, was recognized as
Greek of the Week. Whipple this spring semester has managed to donate more than
50 hours of service, and set up and orchestrate a toy drive for Primary
Children’s Hospital. The drive accumulated nearly $15,000 in money and toy
donations for the hospital.

Pi
Kappa Alpha was also awarded the “Most Improved Chapter of the Year” award at
the Utah State Greek’s Order of Omega banquet on April 13.

“I
have always felt that there are good and bad people in the Greek community at
this university,” Fordham said. “I want Pike to succeed, and I understand they
do some nice charitable things now and then, but they can’t go six months
without something like this happen to them.”

Just
over a year ago Ryan Wray, ex-USU student and ex-president of Pi Kappa Alpha,
was arrested in late March for forcible sexual abuse, a first-degree felony. In
October his charges were reduced to attempted forcible sexual abuse, a
third-degree felony.

Two
months after Wray's original arrest Brian Relopez, a member of the Sigma Chi
fraternity, was arrested and charged in a separate case with aggravated sexual
assault and rape, first-degree felonies.

“The
Greek community can do great things, but every now and then you get some stupid
people in there,” said Max Wilde, a student at Utah State University who was
Greek but later left the community. “All of the good they do can be quickly
taken away by the actions of few stupid individuals. From the outside the
Greeks can seem like a bunch of drunken idiots, but if you take time to
actually understand what they’re about they actually do a lot of good for this
school and community.”

The
men of Pi Kappa Alpha were unable to comment at this time.

Every
Monday the leaders of the Greek community meet, and discuss the status of the
Greeks at the university. No official statement has been released by them, but
a formal judicial hearing will take place in the coming weeks.

Monday, April 18, 2016

By
Braden ClarkDane
Cooper, Vico Noma’aea and CJ O’Neal, who are students at Utah State University, are currently in second place in the “Red
Bull Can You Make It” competition in Europe, with hours remaining. The contest has a
total of 165 teams from different universities across the world, and Team USU is in second place in the entire competition.

They
require help from social media as they travel through Europe with only cans of
Red Bull to get them where they need to go. They accumulate points by people
sharing, hashtagging and liking their videos they post on the Red Bull website.

Team
USU currently sits in first place in the social media category of the
competition with a commanding 146,633 point lead. Right in front of them, in
the overall standings, is a team from Belgium, Germany, but are trailing Team
USU by 55,302 points in social points.

Fans
of the team can help Team USU earn points by hashtagging the phrases TeamUSU,
VikoCJDane, CanYouMakeIt16 and USUFans.

“They’re
a little bit more muscular than I am,” said George Service, one of the contests
directors. “I’ve done some digging into their statistics, and I have seen that
71% of their audience are actually female, and they are making sure that they
post their videos when everyone back home is awake to see them so they get more points.”

Students
at Utah State University have been following Team USU very closely as Cooper,
Noma’aea, and O’Neal travel throughout Europe, and are helping any way they
possible can.

“It’s
been really exciting for us to keep tabs with our friends as they travel
through Europe,” said Sonina Mikkelson, a friend to the members of Team USU. “They’re
really close to winning this, and I want to help any way that I can. I enjoy
the fact that they are getting the publicity they are receiving, because they
are working really hard day and night."

Team
USU is required to use cans of Red Bull as its only way of currency, and so far
they have traveled through five different countries and traveled a total 2,514
miles.

They
have managed to trade Red Bull cans for different forms of transportation, and
on Sunday they traded 24 cans of Red Bull for a train ride from Avignon,
France, to Clermont-Ferrand, France, approximately 236 miles between the two
cities.

The
competition ends April 19 at 2 a.m., which is 6 p.m. Monday evening in Utah,
and the team just reached Mont Saint-Michel an island in Normandy, France. The Belgium team has a significant lead in all the other categories of the competition, but family members of Team USU are hoping social media will be the team's way to victory.

“We
are so proud of our boys, and the fact that they have made it this far is
incredible,” said Kathy Cooper, Dane Cooper’s mother. “The adventure that they
are on is the true prize, but we are so thankful for Red Bull for this opportunity.
Team USU has done a great job, and they are so motivated, and we couldn’t be
happier with the support their friends at Utah State are giving them. Just please keep voting until the contest is over.”

The
winners will be crowned soon after the competition is over, and will be ambassadors for Contiki Travels, the contests sponsor,
as they travel throughout Europe this summer.

Thursday, April 14, 2016

Students
at Dixie State University are loving the publicity their school has been
getting in the last week, and in result, sharing their school pride over social
media.

“I
love the new mascot! Great representation of the Dixie spirit. Job well done,”
said Jeremy Buck, a Dixie State University alum, over Twitter.

“We
are setting records, and doing great things here at Dixie State,” said Ammon
Haymond, a student at Dixie State, over Instagram.

Along
with changing its school mascot, Dixie State found itself in a Twitter banter
with an NBA playoff team. Dixie State’s announcement tweet, “We are the DIXIE
STATE TRAILBLAZERS” on Tuesday got the attention of the pro basketball team who
responded shortly after.

“We
were eating dinner when it all started, and one of my friends yelled across the
table, ‘Guys! We are in a Twitter battle with the Portland Trail Blazers!’ you
can imagine the confusion,” said Andrew Ashton, a student at Dixie State
University. “I was wondering how we got their attention in the first place,
because we are a small school in St. George, Utah, and they are preparing for
the playoffs.”

Dixie
State University announced the name change from the “Red Storm” to the
“Trailblazers” Tuesday morning, and Portland responded to the tweet with
simply, “One word, or two?” which caught a lot of the students by surprise.

“I
thought we spelled our name wrong,” Haymond said, “I assumed that they had the
correct spelling of the name, because they’ve always been called the Trail
Blazers ever since they’ve been in the NBA. I honestly thought we were gonna
back down from them, but instead we responded.”

After
going back and forth the university seemingly finished the battle on Wednesday
with a tweet bashing the Portland team for losing in the NBA finals in 1992.

“I
think it was a refreshing surprise to some to see that a university could have
some fun,” said Joel Griffin, Dixie State University’s coordinator of public
relations. “When they first tweeted us with ‘One word or two?’ it was about
trademark, but we’d done our homework. When they sent us the Damian Lillard gif
with him shaking his head we thought, ‘Okay, they want to have some fun, so
let’s go.’”

On
Thursday, the university tried to reconnect with the Portland twitter by
sending a picture of Lionel Hollins, a point guard on the 1977 championship
Trail Blazer basketball team and Dixie State point guard from 1971 to 1973.

“Even
though we teased them about the ’92 NBA finals we knew they had won a
championship in ’77 and it turns out we have a strong tie to them outside of
just our name; their point guard when they won the championship was Dixie State
Alumnus Lionel Hollins,” Griffin said. “We made up a basketball card in our
last reply to highlight that connection.”

After
the announcement and throughout the week students and locals gathered around
campus to take pictures with the new logo and mascot.

“It’s
been a fun week here in St. George, and with the name and mascot change it
looks like the students are even more excited than us common folk,” said Doug
Miller, a St. George native for 15 years. “We’ve been through a lot of the name
changes, and it seems like this one will stick for a while. It’s exciting to
see what’s happened to this university in the last few years.”

“The
university feels like it changed overnight. Brooks the Bison’s face is all over
the campus and the students have been wearing their swag proudly and lining up
hours before the events this week to get their hands on more. Dixie State’s
Trailblazer identity is here to stay,” Griffin said.

Wednesday, April 13, 2016

Students
at Utah State University have grown impatient with the lack of content on their
school’s Snapchat campus story. The campus story is designed to highlight some
of the qualities of the university, but some students feel like it’s not
highlighting the right parts.

“It’s
really strange and I often feel embarrassed for my school, because of the
things that are posted on it,” said Monica Farfan, a student at Utah State. “There
are a lot of strange things people post that get put on it, and whenever I
watch it I’m confused why those pictures were chosen.”

The
lack of content was really what bothered the students of the university,
because the story doesn’t highlight the best parts of their campus. Certain
events like a domestic violence awareness philanthropy event, the Utah State
Greek’s Order of Omega awards banquet, or Big Brothers, Big Sisters youth
carnival were all left off the feed completely that the students felt deserved
to be on it appose to students singing in their dorm rooms.

Along
with those problems students feel like the story should be a positive thing
that incoming students can see what students are actually doing on campus, and
not a negative.
“Hey Snapchat please take our campus snap away. We obviously don’t deserve it,”
said Nadir Tekarli, the newly elected Utah State University Student
Association’s business senator, over Twitter.

Snapchat
introduced the campus story to the students of Utah State four weeks ago, and
every week students have been displeased with either the content on the stories
or the lack of content.

“We
have so many amazing things happen here at Utah State that other universities
don’t have, and that’s what should be highlighted,” said Logan Shomo, an
independent outdoor photographer and student at Utah State Univeristy.

Snapchat
announced the campus story back in October, 2014, but originally started out on
four college campuses. As the popularity grew it spread to many colleges across
the nation, and eventually landed in Logan, Utah, in early March.

When
the creators of Snapchat, Evan Spiegel and Bobby Murphy, announced the campus story
option they also said Snapchat will regulate each of the stories and what would
go on each of the schools’ feeds.

Amanda
DeRito, Utah State University’s social media coordinator, said the university’s
campus story is curated by Snapchat, and nobody at Utah State chooses what goes
up on the live feed.

“We
aren’t able to influence what is shared through live stories,” DeRito said. They
choose what they see as worthy or reflective of our campus, and I’ve heard from
a few students that they are discouraged by what isn’t chosen for inclusion.”

“I
just don’t understand how someone over at Snapchat could make the case, ‘Yeah,
that is what Utah State is about’ so that’s confusing to me,” said Ricky
Benitez, a student at Utah State. “How could they possibly know what we are all
about here if they don’t live here or are from here?”

The
feed goes live every Wednesday, and students submit their photos to the
Snapchat database throughout the remainder of the day. Nothing has been done to
change the school’s feed, but students are waiting for an improvement in
selection.

“I
think it would be great if we saw a little more variety in the stories after
every week, but right now I would like to see Snapchat highlight our great
outdoors we have here in Logan,” Shomo said.

Saturday, April 9, 2016

Friday
night Pi Kappa Alpha, at Utah State University, was crowned the Utah State step
show champions for the second time in a row.

“We
trained for nearly two months, it seems, on our routine,” said Dontre Manual, a
member of Pi Kappa Alpha. “It’s one of my favorite events all year here at Utah
State, and my brothers and I get really focused on this competition. We expect
to win every year, but every year the competition gets more difficult.
Regardless, this is for a good cause and I’m always willing to help out and
donate my time to philanthropy.”

Many
groups from the university, and some from the University of Utah, competed in
the event Friday night. With a red carpet theme each of the competitors were
asked to make each performance based off popular movies. The night was kicked
off by the Polynesian Student Union, who performed a Polynesian focused step
routine.

“One
of my favorite parts of this event is seeing all the different cultures, and
creative minds from all the students,” said TJ Pratt, a Utah State alumni who
hosted the event. “When I did this when I was here it was pretty exciting, but
it’s come so far from then and I’m excited what the future holds for this
event.”

Many
movies were referenced such as Rocky, Creed, Magic Mike XXL, Slumdog
Millionaire and Sandlot. Pi Kappa Alpha won the night with a tribute to
Leonardo DiCaprio, and his Best Actor victory, where they performed a serious
of scenes from his popular movies.

“Leo
is in right now, and we thought that this was a great idea for our step
performance,” Manual said.

USU’s
step show went through a change last year where they made it a competition
between participating groups. Theta Nu Xi and Psi Sigma Phi, the hosting multicultural
sorority and fraternity, have been setting up this event for the students at
USU since 2000.

“It
seems like it grows every year, and I hope one day that the ballroom isn’t big
enough for this event, and we can move it to the performance hall on the west
side of campus,” said Kaly Mayombe, the president of Theta Nu Xi.

Tuesday, April 5, 2016

Natives
of Boise, Idaho, took to Twitter Monday to give their opinion on the relocation
of their Developmental-League, or D-League, basketball team to Salt Lake City,
Utah. A collection of anger, confusion and shock were the initial reaction from
the fans of the team, and majority of the anger was directed toward the Utah
Jazz organization.

“Right,
because Utah Jazz ownership basically lied to our faces. Good riddance,” said
James A. Gentry, a Boise, Idaho, native, over Twitter.

“Tickets
were expensive and the team was always last. Not a good combo. Kinda sucks though,
still another team gone,” said Dean Craft, a long time Idaho Stampede fan, over
Twitter.

The
Idaho Stampede have been in Boise since 1997 playing in both the Continental
Basketball Association and recently the D-League.

“I was somewhat shocked that the Jazz bought the Stampede last year, because the Jazz have a very low fan base here in Idaho,” said Will Price, a native of Ontario, Oregon, and fan of the Stampede. “My family would spend a lot of time in Boise, and whenever we would go to these games we would see numerous teams’ jerseys in the stands. They were hardly ever Jazz jerseys, and if they were they were likely Mormons, but the majority of the fans we saw were Portland fans and Laker fans.”

On March 24, 2015 the Utah
Jazz bought the rights to the Idaho Stampede, and just over a year after its’
purchase the Stampede will relocate to the Beehive State.

“It’s
such a downer, because there isn’t much to do in Boise when it comes to
professional sports,” said Dillon Guzzle, a Idaho Stampede fan and Boise native.
“The Stampede were our only source of professional basketball in the entire
state, and it’s just really unfortunate that they had to leave.”

The
Stampede will go through a name change and uniform change for the following
season, and will be known as the Salt Lake City Stars. The uniform colors will be
changed from red and black to blue and yellow to match the Utah Jazz colors.

Many
factors came into play when the Utah Jazz organization decided to move the team
to Salt Lake City, but one of the major factors was to ensure the development
of its’ players. Other reasons are due to the weather conditions the state of
Utah offers when transferring players to and from teams.

Transportation
became very difficult for the organizations because the vehicles were often
slow, and had to deal with things like the snow.

To
reconcile the team would be moved to Salt Lake City, Utah, and now it will be
easier for head coach Quin Snyder and Utah Jazz general manager Dennis Lindsey
to keep an eye on the development of these players.

The
Stampede finished its’ final season on Saturday with a victory over the Santa
Cruz Warriors. The Salt Lake City Stars will play its first games next season in Salt Lake Community College’s Bruin Arena.

Sunday, April 3, 2016

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints’ Prophet
Thomas S. Monson announced Sunday morning at 10 a.m. that there will be four
more LDS temples to be built across the world.

Quito, Ecuador; Harare, Zimbabwe; Belem, Brazil; and
Lima, Peru are the set locations for the new LDS temples, and will be the
second temple built in Lima, Peru. This announcement will make seven new
announced LDS temples outside the United States in the past year by the church.

Many of the LDS faith across the globe tuned in Sunday
morning over YouTube, live television or on the LDS.org website to hear their
leaders of the church in Salt Lake City, Utah on the church’s 187 General
Conference.

“I’m so excited to hear Zimbabwe is getting its’ own
temple! When I was there we never really got to go to the temple unless we left
the country,” said Brigg Terry, who served a mission in the Zimbabwe, Harare
Mission. “It’s going to be a real blessing for the people in Harare, and
Zimbabwe.”

The first LDS temple was constructed in Kirtland, Ohio
in 1836, and with the announcement of the new four it brings the total to 177
temples across the world.

“The LDS temples are very special for the LDS faith,”
said Sister Amy Lewis, a LDS missionary who is serving in the St. George, Utah
Mission. “Those who are given a temple recommend from their presiding bishop
may enter the temples, and in the temples we perform many different and sacred
ceremonies like marriage sealings, for example.”

As the announcement was made many of the LDS faith
took to social media to share their opinion on the new temples.

“We’re getting a temple in Zimbabwe!! Finally!!!
#LDSGeneralConference #Zimbabwe #temple,” said Ayanda-Rae Godi, a Zimbabwe
native and Mormon, over Twitter.

These four temple locations will go through a ground
dedication in the coming months, and begin construction as soon as possible.

“Our goal is to obtain celestial glory, and the
choices we make will, in large part, determine whether or not we reach or goal,”
said Monson in his conference talk. “The path we follow in this life leads to our
destination in the next life, and may we choose to build up within ourselves
great and powerful faith.”

About Me

Braden Clark is a student in the Department of Journalism and Communication Studies at Utah State University. A motivated, responsible and dynamic student, seeking new and exciting opportunities at the college level which will utilize many years of communication skills developed through involvement in many groups and organizations.

Clark reports on this site on issues that are trending in Utah social media. He can be reached at bradenclarkjournalism@gmail.com.